Meet Bros Interview: It’s better to be part of more films than doing five songs in one movie!

Brothers Manmeet Singh and Harmeet Singh, collectively known as Meet Bros, have revolutionized the Hindi film music in the past few years. You name any hit party number that you liked a lot of late and could not stop gyrating to its electric composition, strong chances are there that might belong to Meet Bros. After creating hundreds of catchy and foot-tapping party songs, the brothers are coming up with a lot of new stuff in 2018. BollywoodMDB correspondent Mohnish Singh catches up with them in their immaculately bedizened office in Andheri, Mumbai, for a freewheeling chat. Excerpts are below.

Q. How was 2017 for you?

A. 2017 was a beautiful year. We did what we love the most - performing for lots of concerts and shows. And also, making independent music, which is coming out now. For past several years, we had been doing only film music and we were doing so much of it that we wanted to break out of that because otherwise it becomes a routine; every time you make a song, a producer comes, and then you incorporate some changes and so on.

So this was our time. We travelled a lot, we did shows, we took a lot of holidays and composed a lot of new stuff. We made a bank for next two years and planned a lot of singles now. So, a lot of singles will be coming from our end, starting with Yaari Ve which has just released.

Q. What your new song ‘Yaari Ve’ is all about?

A. Mostly we are known for our party songs, but our heart really lies in soulful, romantic stuff. It was getting very difficult for us to do that as we were busy composing party songs for films. There are very few people who can deliver good party songs. It is really very difficult to make one. Since we made a lot of hit party songs, a lot of producers would come to us just for that kind of music only. So, we were making the stuff which they wanted. In between all this, we were not able to bring the music which we really wanted, which is romantic music. Yaari Ve is a song which makes you fall in love. It is dedicated to all friends and to all those who fall in love with their friends. We believe friends make best lovers. So, this song is dedicated to all of them. It is a perfect song for a long time.

Q. As you just mentioned that you took a break from composing party songs to focus more on creating romantic songs and singles. But a large chunk of your listeners love those foot-tapping, catchy songs. Won’t be they disappointed if you completely stop making party songs?

A. We aren’t completely stopping making party songs. Last year, we did ‘Ek Baari Aa To Sahi’ for Judwaa 2 and ‘Main Tera Boyfriend’ for Raabta. We composed 4-5 good party songs last year. See, our listeners want good music from us. For that, an artist needs to unwind time to time. After 2-3 years of creating the same kind of music, you feel it has become a routine for you.

Everything in this whole creative world is about passion and feeling good and being in good state of mind. It is not a job where you have to do the same thing which you have been doing all your life and you have the same old parameters of working. Creating music, dealing with directors and producers and incorporating changes in your music over and again is a stressful job. And we love that stress. That is why we are in this field.

So, there is nothing like that we have stopped making party songs. We just got slow for some time. We wanted to travel, explore things, go and enjoy and meet new people to see how they are reacting to our music. We wanted to learn more about music, what really stays and is working and come back and make more songs. That’s how every musician works, we believe.

Q. From the beginning of Indian cinema to the 2000s, there used to be one music composer scoring music for the whole film. But now there are 4-5 music directors doing the same job in a single movie. How do you see this change that has taken place over the years?

A. It is a very good change; a beautiful one. This is what happens in the West. If you see a (Hollywood) film, when the end credits role, there are 10-15 composers who have created music for the same film.

It is a very healthy change. Monopoly is something which is not good. Everyone should get a chance. This way, there are so many new musicians and talent have come up. There is so much new music is being created catering to various different segments of the listeners. Having said that, heavy competition in the field keeps everybody in check. You can’t take things for granted. Do you best. If you can’t, you are rejected. Somebody else will replace you in no time.

We were one of the first few people who took that route. Everybody said why were we doing so. It’s not good. It’s not good for our branding. But we brothers were confident about our work and craft. It’s better to be part of more films than doing five songs in one movie. We don’t do that.

Q. You have a close working relationship with lyricist Kumaar and singer Kanika Kapoor. What makes you repeat them in your songs more often?

A. We always believe that it is a team that works. If you have strong creative forces working with you more often, it is always good. We started working with Kumaar Ji long back and it has been a wonderful association with him ever since. When his words and our tunes come together, we create magic. With Kumaar Ji, it is always a crazy combination. Talking about Kanika, her voice is perfect for us. These kind of combinations just happen; you can’t plan them. You just have to go with the flow.

Q. There are two ways of creating a song - the first one is that a composer composes a tune and the lyricist writes lyrics on it, and then there is the other way around. What suits you the best?

A. Jamming. Everything just comes together in jamming. We don’t follow the method which you just mentioned. Our method is instant. When when we are jamming, the writer writes the lyrics and we compose the tune. It’s all happening then and there. Not that a tune is there and the writer comes to write the lyrics. We don’t do that.